Author Archives: Rusty Rueff

About Rusty Rueff

Rusty Rueff, author of purposed worKING. Rusty Rueff is the former Chairman Emeritus of The GRAMMY Foundation in Los Angeles. He most recently completed the successful 16 month leadership role as Coordinating National Co-Chair for Technology for Obama (T4O) for the reelection of President Obama and ten-years of Board service and President of the Board of Trustees of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Corporately, most recently Rueff was the Chief Executive Officer at SNOCAP, Inc. until the acquisition of the company by imeem, Inc. in April 2008. Before joining SNOCAP in 2005, he was Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Electronic Arts (EA) from 1998 until 2005. He was also with the PepsiCo companies for more than ten years, with the Pratt & Whitney division of United Technologies for two years, and in commercial radio as an on-air personality for six years. Rusty holds an M.S. in counseling and a B.A. in radio and television from Purdue University. In 2003 he was named a distinguished Purdue alumnus, and he and his wife, Patti, are the named benefactors of Purdue’s Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Visual and Performing Arts. He is a corporate director of Glassdoor.com and runcoach. He is the co-founder and Executive Committee Member of T4A.org, serves on the Founding Circle of The Centrist Project and a founding Board Member of The GRAMMY Music Education Coalition. He is also the co-author of the book Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business. Rusty and his wife, Patti, reside in Hillsborough, CA and Charlestown, R.I.

day 914: First Mover Advantage

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“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Start-ups prefer first mover advantage.  First-mover advantage can be very powerful but also quite challenging because if fortunate enough to gain the first position, there will always be someone gunning for you.  It isn’t cheap to keep ahead and it is not for the faint of heart investor or team.  While some companies make it look so easy, it is not at all either easy to get there or stay there.  I’m involved with one of those companies who have pioneered in their space and now either have the opportunity to distance themselves from the rest of the pack or they slow down, miss a step, or allow someone else to pass them up.  It’s scary but exhilarating.  What must be aligned is a full vision and commitment from investors, management team, and employees.  Then, it is about putting the pedal down and not looking in the rear-view mirror.  Is there a part of your organization that you have or can find for a first mover advantage?
As believers we always have a first-mover advantage because as we are promised in Deuteronomy our God goes before us and carries the heavy lifting. We are also told to be courageous and we can be so because He moves ahead of us into the places where we are weak.  In the workplace it is hard to always be strong and courageous in our faith.  This is why we need to not leave God behind but instead invite him into our workplace daily. If we can find a place where we can be trustful, purposeful and calm in our daily walk, then our great first-mover will open His way for us. 
Reference: Deuteronomy 31:6 (New Living Translation)